London Olympics 2012 Update: A Long, Gridlocked Road Ahead

Although the Olympic games are nine months away, London is abuzz with anticipation over the biggest thing to happen to England this century since the royal wedding. On Wednesday, London 2012 chairman Lord Coe rejected claims that the city's shiny, new stadium would become a white elephant once the masses have cleared, arguing that track and field is “a popular sport with an extensive network of clubs in this country and is central to broader policy aims of public health.” And celebrities are beginning to get Olympic fever—this week David Beckham expressed his desire to join Team Britain and go for the gold. July 27 can't come soon enough.

In the meantime, what some are calling an an unfair balloting system has left millions disappointed and ticketless. Although 20 million people worldwide applied for tickets, only 6.6 million people managed to get them. As a result, the BBC and the Telegraph have dedicated entire columns to whining over the fact that London’s throwing a party too exclusive for its own residents.

Londoners who won't be attending, however, are hoping to be as far from the city as possible when it comes time to light the torch. Industry specialists are predicting the city will experience a "capacity crunch," which sounds like it would be quite tasty if it were chocolate-coated. In this case it refers to the phone-network chaos that's expected as a result of one million additional visitors to London.

And that's not all: London mayor Boris Johnson plans to create V.I.P. traffic lanes for athletes, media personnel, and other lucky souls. According to the *Evening Standard,*at least 60 miles of roads will have lanes reserved for official Olympic vehicles. Most comforting of all, routes “will be monitored by CCTV mobile patrols and motorists who flout the rules will be fined £200." Big Brother is watching.